Friends forever? Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera have had their fair share of tension over the years, but the “Beautiful” singer is hoping to bury the hatchet and move forward.
After meeting as teenage cast members of the All New Mickey Mouse Club in the early 1990s, Spears and Aguilera released their first singles in 1998 and 1999, respectively. As two of the biggest names in the early-aughts pop scene, the pair were constantly pitted against one another — especially after Aguilera released “Dirrty” in 2002.
“It’s hard to hear yourself being called names,” Aguilera told Cosmopolitan in September 2018. “I remember being hurt by these commercials on MTV, pitting Britney as the good girl and me as the bad girl. It’s like, if I’m going to be demure and innocent, that’s okay. But if I’m going to just be myself, I’m trouble.”
All of those comparisons created tension between the “Genie in a Bottle” singer and Spears, and both took shots at their rival in the press. “When someone has been rude to you so many times, it’s like, ‘You know what, Christina, I’m really not about the fake anymore,’” Spears told Blender in 2004 about her relationship with the “Fighter” singer. Aguilera, meanwhile, described the Crossroads star as a “lost little girl” in her own interview with the outlet that year.
In the years that followed, however, the pop stars seemingly buried the hatchet. In January 2022, Aguilera revealed that she “couldn’t be happier” that Spears’ 13-year conservatorship had ended, after a lengthy and highly-publicized legal battle. “I would love to [speak to Britney], I would always be open to that,” the Burlesque star said during an appearance on The Enrique Santos Show. “It’s a subject that I definitely want to be careful of because I never want to speak out of turn about somebody that I have so much respect and admiration for. But, I’m so happy [for her].”
Spears has not publicly responded to the “What A Girl Wants” singer’s offer, but she has previously accused the singer of not supporting her. “I love and adore everyone who supported me … But refusing to speak when you know the truth, is equivalent to a lie!!!!!” the “Stronger” musician wrote on her Instagram Story in November 2021.
Keep scrolling to read more about Spears and Aguilera’s ups and downs over the years.